


Mer de Noir

by katiiebee



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Mermaid Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Minor Violence, Pirate chat noir, mermaid & pirate AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-23 22:43:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14942766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katiiebee/pseuds/katiiebee
Summary: “I’ll be completely honest with you,” he began slowly, seeming to notice her apprehension.“Should I believe that, coming from a pirate?” she countered.“From me? Usually, no.” He chuckled.





	Mer de Noir

Marinette belonged to the sea. This simple fact was woven into every fibre of her existence.  
From a very young age, she had known that she had found her place amongst the schools of fish that filtered in and out of the deep sea trench the kingdom resided in. In her heart, nothing could compare to the gardens of vivid coral lining the dark rock walls of the trench, the smatterings of glittering sunlight that fell upon the thick blankets of sand, and the exhilarating gusts of cool water that rushed through her cherished home.

Although her father was of the opinion that the ability to walk on land was just as useful to the kingdom as swimming, Marinette’s heart was firmly bound to the ocean. This was her decision. The young princess had experienced the ‘wonders’ of dry land, and they never came close to equalling the splendor and comfort of the sea.

●●●●●●●

 

“ _Marinette_ ,” her father once told her, “ _I am about to show you what makes our family royalty_.”

Her twinkling blue eyes widened as she bounced excitedly. “ _Show me! Please!_ ” she squeaked; elation wrapping around the edges of her tiny voice.

Warmth radiated from him - something not often felt in the dark depths of their trench. He chuckled and reached behind his back. He clutched a small trinket in his hands, successfully hiding it from the view of his excited daughter who was desperately craning her neck to peek over his broad shoulders.

Slowly, he brought his hands around to Marinette’s view and opened his closed fist. The tiny object settled on in his palm emitted a soft glow that dusted her face. Her eyes widened and she gasped; small hands immediately chasing the source of the light.

With a warm laugh, her father pulled the object out of her reach just as quickly as he had introduced it.

“ _Not so fast, kiddo!_ ” The King chuckled, ruffling her hair. She pouted and crossed her arms tightly to her chest. He smiled as he opened his hand again, making sure to keep the object safely out of his child’s reach. She squinted at the light growing brighter and brighter, until it suddenly dimmed and the object became clear.

Against the backdrop of his large hands sat a pink seashell looped onto thick, dark cord. It emanated a soft rosy glow, painting the water around it with its colors.

“ _This belonged to your grandmother,_ ” her father began, managing to momentarily peel her attention away from the necklace. “ _She used it to save our kingdom countless times. She would want you to follow in her footsteps._ ”

Marinette nodded eagerly, before slowing down and tilting her head to the side in confusion. “ _What does it do?_ ”

The King smiled softly at his daughter. “ _It allows the wearer to adapt to the sphere they wish to inhabit: Land or Sea._ ”

Marinette hadn’t been able to speak - she only stared in awe at the shell. Looking back on the moment, she had been far too fascinated with the bright aura of the seashell to comprehend what her father's words had really meant.

“ _One day, you will own this necklace; just as your grandmother had before you. Not only will it give you freedom, it will provide you all you need to keep our people safe as their princess._ ”

A large toothy grin had been growing on her small face. Her father swept her hair to the side and slipped the necklace onto her tiny shoulders.

His eyes became much darker and much sterner - they held a hurricane within them for a fleeting moment. The young princess knew that what her father would say next was much more important than the necklace. “ _You are forbidden to use this necklace until I teach you how to use it…. And, even after that, you are forbidden to use it unless you absolutely must._ ”

Slowly, concern gave way to warmth. “ _After all, this is your home._ ” He gathered her into a hug.

“You belong here, in the sea. Promise me you will always return.”

“I promise.”

 

●●●●●●●

 

Marinette looked back on her time in the sea fondly. It filled her chest with a wistful longing each time she saw the sun being swallowed by the wall of water she had once called home. Her heart sank and rose each time she listened to the curling of waves as they lulled into the harbor.

It had been over two years since Marinette last saw her father. Two years since her entire world had been ripped from her and split in two. Two long, weary years since she had begun her desperate search for the other half.

Here she was, now in the present, staring down the rotting door of a dingy tavern and trying to work up nerve to open it. She knew what she needed to do at this point. She ran out of ideas a week ago and the wad of cash stuffed into her trousers was beginning to feel extremely heavy.

The past two years for Marinette had been a continuous loop of struggling and scraping by. Every time she thought her luck had changed, she fell back into a vicious cycle consisting of the two. She hadn’t wanted to resort to this, but this is what it came to. Fixing her mistakes had been the one and only priority in her life for a while now.

She took a deep breath, steeling herself, and rested her hand protectively over her pocket. Her fingers brushed a familiar shape, flooding her chest with a grim reminder of why she was here. She shouldered her way into the tavern, the doors swinging shut in her wake.

Her eyes flitted about the patrons of the bar, looking for one specific one. She knew she would recognize him when she saw him. She had seen his face for many nights on end. Sometimes she saw him in the heated sky of a sunset, and sometimes she saw his form flickering amongst flames, beckoning her to join him.

●●●●●●●

He’d once been just a stranger, fighting for his life against the world Marinette had thrived in. Now, their situations were flipped. She had saved him, and was currently paying the price.

For the longest time she had detested him for robbing her of the scales and fins she had grown so attached to. Deep down, she knew that it wasn’t anyone’s fault but her own. She was young and immature and needed to pin the blame on someone.

Most of all, she hated that the opinion of him that she had clung to for so long could be dashed in a mere conversation….

It had been a particularly good day for Marinette when she had seen him once again. He was nursing a glass of some clear liquid, seated at the bar of a dirty tavern near the harbors of the town. Her heart had stopped when she saw that familiar sweep of blonde hair and glint of green eyes.

She didn’t know what had overtaken her, but her feet had lead her across the sand and dirt filled floor and onto the seat right next to the boy.

She had been perfectly civil in conversation, (save for the poison dripping from her words very carefully), eventually working up the nerve to ask him an incredibly personal question.

“Have you ever been in love before?”

He had blinked, staring at her in disbelief, as if she had just grown horns.

“Yeah,” he mumbled, “once.”

Marinette had leaned forward, an evil fiber in her taking delight in his discomfort. “With who?”

His eyes had trailed back to her. “You’re going to think I’m insane.” His voice became much quieter, his facial features matching the intense tone of his voice. “My ship was caught in a storm halfway between the Eastern and Southern Isles. I was thrown from the ship during the commotion. I was certain that I would drown.”

An uncomfortable warmth pooled in her gut as she realized how familiar the story sounded.

“I was saved by a-” He coughed suddenly, trying to mask what was coming next. “Mermaid.”

The poison that had once coated her words evaporated once his story had sunk in. She felt sick.

“I never saw her again.” He gripped his glass much tighter. “But I am, without a doubt, in love.”

Their conversation had ended shortly after that, once Marinette had declared she needed to buy some new shoes immediately. He had been confused and concerned for her, but she had brushed it off and disappeared into the night.

They had met a few occasions after that, and each time he had ended it with “You know where to find me.”

So here she was, picking over the dirty faces of the tavern, searching for him. She had a favor she needed to redeem.

The air from her lungs had been stolen, just as the last bit of hope escaped. He was nowhere to be seen amongst the tavern patrons. Panic rose in the form of bile in her throat and the tightening of her chest. She stumbled backwards into a chair at the bar, her head spinning with a whirlwind of thoughts.

“Need anything miss?” The bartender snapped her out of her stupor.

“Water.” She croaked miserably, barely sparing the man a glance. Her mouth felt incredibly dry.

“Put it on my tab, sir.” She heard a voice from behind her, as the person slid into the seat to her right. She dreaded turning to face the man, prepared to be greeted by a wrinkly lord or merchant, but instead was faced with a young man wearing a mask and cloth cap covering most of his hair. He was dressed head to toe in black, save for the grey metal glinting from the sling on his belt.

“Thanks, but it’s just water y’know.” She muttered, once the heavy weight of dread slid off of her. Marinette was not in the mood to be hit on by some random guy right now. In fact, she was never in the mood. Not many people in this town seemed to care about what she wanted, though.

“It’s the sentiment that counts, milady.” He flashed her a Cheshire-like grin, causing her to inwardly groan. The gods really seemed to have it out for her today.

She didn’t bother giving him any sort of reaction, and returned to staring at the wood grain of the bar before them.

She could feel his gaze trained on her, causing her to slide her eyes back over to him once again. He seemed to be studying her, his eyes narrowed into green slits. They pierced her in a peculiar way.

“What brings you here to this _fine_ establishment?” he asked, his accent sounding far too proper for the clothes he was wearing and the patrons surrounding them. He rested his head on his closed fist, his elbow propped on the edge of the bar. He kept his other hand dangling over the chair, close to the sling.

Marinette sucked in a deep breath. “Well,” she shifted her gaze around the bar once, juggling with the idea to tell a complete stranger of her troubles. It couldn’t hurt to tell someone who didn’t know her or the involved parties, right?

“I came here in search of someone important. Someone who once told me I could always find them here if I needed help.” She shifted forward in her seat, leaning closer to the stranger so she wouldn’t have to talk in a conversational voice level.

“And you’re in need of help?” He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

“Very much so,” she replied, scanning the tavern once more.

“You see, I owe a very large sum of money to a lord.” ‘Very large’ was a bit of an overstatement but with the weight it held over her head, it felt fitting.

“No big deal right? Just take an odd job or go into indentured servitude.” He raised his hand as if it was obvious.

Marinette rolled her eyes. “It’s not that simple, and that wasn’t helpful at all.”

He merely shrugged, which only irritated her more.

“His daughter already dislikes me, and I know as soon as my allotted repayment time is up, they will skip over pleasantries and send their worst hounds after my scent.” She spoke in a hushed tone, as if not to let the words float away from her and into the ears of the wrong person.

The stranger gave her a low whistle, raising his gloved hands into a slow clap. “That’s quite a predicament you have yourself in, milady.”

“Besides,” he said in a much lower tone. If she didn’t know any better, she would’ve described it as ‘husky’. “You didn’t quite strike me as a criminal when I first saw you.”

She swallowed, trying to rid of whatever emotion was building in her throat. _Is he really flirting with me after I told him all of that?_

“Technically, I won’t be a criminal until tomorrow. Today was my last day to repay the debt,” she said quickly before coughing into her closed fist. It felt somewhat relieving to speak the words aloud that had gripped her with fear for the past week, but the grim reminder set her heart back into overdrive.

The bartender set a glass of water before her, which she gulped down quickly.

The stranger watched her closely, moving the hand that was once propping his head up to stroke his chin thoughtfully.

“What if I told you, I could help you escape your situation?”

Marinette choked on the water she was drinking. It wasn’t a pretty scene but after the events that preceded it, she didn’t care one bit. She wiped her mouth with the back of her cloak sleeve.

“What do you mean? Don’t play.” Her voice was serious, her blue eyes narrowing into something much more dangerous than she could actually corroborate.

He moved his hand even closer to his sling. Her eyes followed the movement, settling on the glint of a peek of metal. “Woah there,” he said holding out his other hand to ward her off and cocking an eyebrow. “Don’t get too close to these claws.”

Her brain refused to try and decipher what that meant.

“Let me introduce myself before you pull a shiv on me.” He held out his gloved hand, beckoning a handshake.

“Captain Chat Noir, at your service.” He flashed her the same grin as before.

It took everything in her will to prevent her jaw from plummeting into the ground.

“ _The Chat Noir. The pirate?!_ ” she whispered loudly, paying no mind to the way the water in her glass had sloshed about until landing on her trousers.

He rolled his eyes and dropped his hand. “You don’t need to whisper. Practically everyone in here is a criminal.” He wasn’t wrong about that, she conceded. Earlier, she had spotted the middle aged man three seats from her left attempt to pickpocket some poor passerby.

“Some of them even work for me. And you could too.” He pointed at her, leaning back. He slung his arm back over the chair, his fingers dangling loosely near his sling.

Marinette blinked slowly, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Just a few minutes ago, all her hope had been burned from her lungs. Now, she was finally given an opportunity to right her wrongs. A year ago, this was the kind of miracle she would’ve prayed for. She stopped believing in miracles not too long after that.

But working for Chat Noir? A pirate with his face plastered on practically every wanted poster in town? She had a hard time believing it would be worth her trouble.

“I’ll be completely honest with you,” he began slowly, seeming to notice her apprehension.

“Should I believe that, coming from a pirate?” she countered.

“From me? Usually, no.” He chuckled. It sent a pang of worry coursing through her veins.

“However,” he started slowly, “I’m being completely transparent right now; I give you my word.” He crossed his heart, making an exaggerated X motion with his fingers. “I can prove it to you, if you would just hear me out.”

“Go on then.” She crossed her arms, mirroring his slack posture.

“I’ve got a job offer. The guy is legit, I’ve worked with him before.”

“That provides me with no ethos whatsoever.”

“You’re quick, milady. Anyway, my last crew is unavailable for this job. All I will say, is my ship has no room for cowards. I need a new crew, one with even more talent than the last.” His lips curled into a sly smile.

“This job will require someone with guts and brains. I think you’re smart and desperate enough to take this offer.”

She scoffed. “That’s mighty bold of you to assume, _Chat Noir_.”

“My observation skills haven’t failed me before.” He paused for a moment, seeming to map out his plan.

“If you join me on this job, I will be able to buy you out of your contract with your employer- um, what’s their name?”

“Bourgeois. Lord Bourgeois.”

“Lord Bour-” Chat’s eyes widened, panic pooling in them for a moment. It was gone so fast, Marinette was sure she had imagined it.

“Okay, so once the deed is done, I’ll give you a cut large enough to buy you out of your contract with… _Lord Bourgeois_.” He said the last part with a hint of disdain tinging the edges of his voice.

“And, if they ask, ‘Why, you sure were gone for a long time. Were you _evading your debt_?’ you would have my full permission to claim that some handsome pirate had kidnapped you and held you on the Western Isles.”

She rolled her eyes and signalled the bartender to order another glass of water. Chat Noir watched her, seeming to analyze her, a curious glint shining in his green eyes.

“So you’re saying,” she began, after a moment of thought, “if I join your crew, I’ll be able to get myself out of this predicament?”

He waved his hand in the air. “All of your debt. Gone. And then some.”

She shot him a calculated look. “How risky is it?”

“Very, but it’s nothing we can’t manage. Nothing _I_ can’t manage, that is.” He jabbed a thumb to his chest.

The bartender brought a second glass of water to her, which she gulped down again. Her chest seemed a bit lighter after this, but her head was still full of sharks. They swam about her thoughts, circling, threatening to eat up the very idea of becoming a pirate.

 _A pirate_ , she thought. _How ironic_. Three years ago, she would’ve been the one trying to drown them as she protected the trench.

“Take your time.” Chat Noir said.

 _If I take this job, I could be close to home. And, once the debt is paid, I can devote my time back to what matters_. Chunks of the idea were being torn away, hacked at by sharp rows of teeth.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a shard of a necklace, covered by a thick wrap of dark cord save for the very tip of the jagged edge. The stone glowed dimly, not quite as bright as it had shone when it was whole. _And I can search for the other half at sea._ She was almost certain it would be there.

“I’m in,” she said, closing her eyes. She said it quickly, saving the last few chunks of thought from consumption.

Chat Noir clapped his hands together. “Fantastic!” The action mirrored the thunderous noise pounding in her chest and ears.

“We leave tomorrow at sunrise, from the Eastern docks.” He then stood up to leave, shoving the chair he was sitting in back under the bar.

“Wait!” She scrambled, shoving her necklace back into her pocket. “This is insane! I mean, what the hell? You don’t even know my name!” _You don’t even know me_ , she added silently. “How will I find you? I still have so many questions!”

Chat Noir was halfway out the door as she had begun to speak. He had fastened his cap and mask tighter onto his face as he was walking. He turned back, his gold hair and green eyes illuminated by the soft dust of sunlight filtering into the tavern.

“First of all, _I_ will find _you_.” He pointed a finger at her.

“Second, your countless questions will be answered tomorrow.” She had opened her mouth to retort, but nothing came out.

“And third- I’ve got eyes and ears _everywhere,_ Marinette.” He smirked. Her heart dropped to the floor for the second time that day.

“You really think I’d offer this opportunity to just _anyone_?” And then he was gone, leaving just a swinging door in his wake.

Marinette was left speechless and still. She shook her head, trying to wake from the trance he had just put her in. Her fingers clutched the edge of her cloak, as she tried to make sense of what just happened. All she could manage to pull from the previous events was that it appeared that she wasn’t out of luck.

Quite ironic though that the symbol of her fortune came in the form of a black cat.

●●●●●●●

 

Marinette arrived at the dock even earlier than her employer had instructed her to do. Perhaps it was due to the fact she hadn’t slept a wink the previous night, her brain refusing to do anything else but dream of saltwater and crashing waves.

She had dressed in her regular outfit of coral colored trousers, a blouse, and a dark colored cloak, but she had bought new dark colored boots to replace her old peeling ones. She had spent a large chunk of her money on them, not quite considering the possibility that she was being duped by the pirate. She cursed herself for putting too much faith in a stranger.

She had a bag slung over her shoulder, filled with all of her possessions - not that she had many. For once, instead of stuffing the most important item she owned into her pocket, she wore it around her neck. She had tucked the shard into her shirt to avoid bringing attention to herself; that could be deadly here on the Southern Isles.

She sat perched on the edge of a gushing fountain, swinging her feet idly on the cobblestone. Scanning her surroundings, she noticed rows of warehouses and shops behind her. Against them were gardens of spindly bushes and weary looking flowers. To the front of her were ships rocking in the harbor against gentle waves, brightened by the soft sunlight that was just barely peeking over the horizon.

She had just wrapped the cloak tighter around her shoulders when she heard a rustling from behind her. She whipped around, her bag swinging from the sudden movement. Whatever was once there had fallen still.

Sucking in a deep breath, she steeled herself, and then began to creep towards the area she thought the sound was coming from. _It was probably a squirrel, please be a squirrel_. She pleaded to whatever god was listening at that moment.

As she had neared the bush, she realized she couldn’t see anything through the browning and sparsely distributed branches and leaves. “Huh.”

“Psst. Marinette.”

She jumped, her hand diving to her belt to wrap around the edges of the shiv she had fashioned out of wood from her bedpost the night before. Her eyes focused on a dark alleyway, where the voice had presumably just emanated from.

“Over here!” The voice whispered from the shadows again.

She creeped closer, fearing the worst as the dark consumed her vision. She sighed in relief once the limited light caught hold of Chat Noir’s green eyes.

“Chat! What the hell,” she growled.

He swiftly reached into the light and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her back against his chest, their shoulders brushing the rough brick of the alley wall. She opened her mouth to speak but felt the hand tightly grip her shoulder.

She looked up, to see him tapping a finger to his mouth, effectively keeping her quiet. She was thankful that his eyes were trained on something in the fountain area, so he wouldn’t see the red that painted her cheeks and the tops of her ears.

He pointed into the light. Her eyes followed the line of his finger until they settled on a group of people clad in green and gold. Her breath caught in her throat. The guard was here.

She spun around so she could face the pirate. She wouldn’t want to be caught dead with the Southern Isles’ most wanted criminal while she had outstanding debt to a prominent lord.

“Chat,” she whispered as quietly as she possibly could, “how are we going to get to your ship without them noticing?”

“I’m working on it,” he muttered, watching the group carefully.

She glanced around him, noticing a tangle of alleyways and scrap sheets of metal and wood lining the buildings. She then looked back to him, eyes narrowing as she focused on his mask.

“Can I make suggestions?”

He nodded slightly. She took that as a yes.

“First plan: We carefully sneak into that,” she waved her hand as she pointed into the maze of alleys, “and hope we can find our way out.”

“Okay, go on.”

“Second plan: You take off your mask and we’ll just walk past the guards normally.”

He stiffened as she finished her sentence. His mouth settled into a straight line, his jaw squaring. “Maze it is, then.” He said, already taking small steps further back into the dark.

Marinette resisted the urge to groan. Leave it to a criminal to refuse to reveal his identity to anyone and make things exponentially more difficult.

She followed him, stepping backwards. She pulled up the hood on her cloak, as if to hide her identity. Not that it mattered anyway- the sun would be rising in the following minutes.

She jumped at the sound of a large clanging from just a few feet behind her. She whipped around to see a pile of scrap metal and garbage and one panicked Chat Noir on his ass in said pile.

Just as she was about to facepalm, her action was suddenly interrupted by the sound of boots clicking on the cobblestone. “You! Chat Noir! Halt!” The lead guard pointed a sword at the two, the pointy ends of his mustache trembling with anger.

“Go! Run!” Chat Noir shouted, scrambling to his feet and taking off, pausing only to glare at the guards hot on their heels. “For the record,” he snarled, “it’s CAPTAIN Chat Noir! _Captain_!”

Marinette didn’t need to be told twice. She sprinted into the darkness, leaping over the pile that Chat Noir had failed to avoid. She cursed herself, and him, for getting into this situation. _Stupid Marinette! Never trust a pirate again!_

She bolted past at least ten stacks of wood resting against the walls before an idea popped into her head. She slowed her pace slightly, and then shoved the stacks onto the ground behind her, allowing her to buy some time to increase the distance between her and the guard.

“Go! That way!” Chat’s voice echoed off of the greasy pavement. Marinette swung her head up to see him pointing into an alleyway that seemed considerably less shrouded in darkness. She realized with a start that he was following the light out of the maze.

She took a sharp right turn, slamming her hand over her bag to keep everything from flying. She used her other hand to push a stack of crates, sending it toppling into the middle of the street. A sharp cry of pain told her that a crate must’ve hit a guard.

“How did the guards know where to find you?!” Marinette shouted once she had caught Chat Noir.

“I don’t know!” he yelled back, his voice rising above the sound of the shouts of the guard behind them intermingled with the crashing of waves.

 _Waves. Sea_. They were close to the harbor!

“Chat! Chat! That way!” she yelled, grabbing his elbow and making a sharp left turn. The pair practically skidded into the next section of alleyway as Marinette guided them. She let the sound that had been her only solace on land for years take her back to the sea.

“Yes! There’s the ship!” He shouted triumphantly.

She snapped her head up to see a lone ship bobbing in the harbor ahead of them. The sun was beginning to rise, making the dark outline of the ship look like an inkblot against the backdrop of the ocean. She felt a tug at her heart, hearing the familiar pull of the waves into the harbor and feeling the salty spray of the ocean on her skin.

“Prepare to sail!” he shouted loudly with an intense urgency.

Just as they were about to emerge into the morning sunlight, they were suddenly blocked by at least ten guards, each holding a sword in their hands.

“Halt!” the lead guard called, holding his arm out.

The duo slowed to a stop. They stood side by side, which Marinette realized was a mistake due to the fact it allowed for the guard to easily enclose them in a circle. She let go of Chat’s arm, which she hadn’t realized she was still holding, and wildly looked for an exit.

She glanced to her left, choking on air as she noticed he was holding his hands up in surrender.

“Chat Noir, you are under arrest!” the head guard yelled; his scowl almost comedic to Marinette. She would have laughed if she wasn’t currently faced with the prospect of going to jail. She slowly raised her hands to mirror Chat’s.

“Aw,” Chat smirked, tilting his head to the side. Marinette’s eyes followed the long line of his neck, up to his eyes which were narrowed with a dangerous glint. “That’s too bad.”

The guard to the head guard’s right lowered his sword in confusion. It didn’t take long for Marinette to figure out what Chat was doing - he was creating a distraction. If he could make a big enough hole in the circle, they could sprint the last hundred yards to the ship.

“You see,” he drawled, “I really needed to get started on this job. It’s kind of… time sensitive.”

Marinette noticed the guard beginning to tighten their circle, closing in on the pair. She hated feeling so trapped; it stole the air from her lungs and replaced it with a racing heart and adrenaline pumping through her veins.

The head guard scoffed and pointed his sword at Chat with much more intent. “You won’t be going anywhere anytime soon with where you’re going, criminal scum.”

If only Marinette had a weapon of some sort, that wasn’t as miniscule as her shank. That’s when her hand grazed the leather of her bag, and she had an idea once more. She slowly began to shrug the strap off of her shoulder, letting the bag fall to the ground. Her fingers finally curled around the strap.

“You’re incorrect.” Marinette spoke, her voice sounding just as smooth and confident as Chat’s.

“What do you me-” The guard was cut off by Marinette swinging her bag straight into his mustache, knocking him to the ground. It was a big enough hole for the two to escape.

She grabbed Chat Noir’s gloved hand and shoved her way past the other guard members, swinging the bag back onto her shoulder.

Shouts filled the morning air but all Marinette could hear was the blood rushing in her ears, her heart pounding, and the glorious creaking of the ship that was merely a hundred yards away at this point.

The rest of the guard was hot on their heels, as Chat Noir and Marinette raced for the loading area of their ship. The cool salty breeze flipped through her loose hair like the pages of a book.

“That was genius!” Chat Noir laughed maniacally. A small smile fell onto Marinette’s flushed face.

A long ramp lead up to the deck of the ship; she could make out the shape of figures on board, their arms waving frantically as the pair approached the loading area. Marinette had just begun to run up the ramp when she felt Chat’s hand tear away from her own.

“Chat!” she screamed, turning around. Her eyes fell onto a guard member dragging him back onto the cobblestone, their arms around his neck in a chokehold. He tried to twist against them to break free, but it wasn’t enough to escape their grip.

“New girl!” a female voice called from above, catching Marinette’s attention. As she turned back to try to locate the source, she was suddenly blinded by the metallic glint of an object being tossed at her. She ducked and heard it clang onto the ramp.

Looking back, she noticed a cutlass sliding down the ramp towards the water. She scrambled forward, just as it was teetering between the ramp and the waves below it. She snatched it just as it threatened to topple over the edge.

She wielded it in her hand for a moment, trying to get used to the feel. Her shaking hands looked unnatural around the hilt of the cutlass.

“What are you doing? Help him!” she heard another voice shout from above. She shook her head, swallowing the dry taste of adrenaline.

With what could only be described as a warrior scream, she raised the sword above her head and started to charge. She brought the sword down at just the right time to slash the guard’s arm and barely nick Chat Noir. The guard cried out in pain before stumbling back and into the ocean. All Marinette could hear was her sickening splash.

She steadied the captain by grabbing his shoulders before he could take a swan dive as well. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, thanks to you!” Chat Noir grinned, seemingly unfazed by the wound that was dripping down the side of his face. Marinette couldn’t help but copy his smile.

“Hurry up Captain!”

Marinette turned to the horizon. The sun was almost balancing on the horizon at this point. She turned and bolted up the ramp, ignoring the burning of her lungs from all of the running.

She could hear footsteps behind her, and figured there were at least three guards still following them up the ramp. She clutched her bag to her side and prayed that she would be able to outrun them.

Once she reached the top of the ramp, she wasted no time leaping onto the main deck. However, she overshot her landing which caused her to fall on the wooden planks with a thump. The air rushed out of her lungs all at once, causing pain to blossom in her chest and stomach.

She heard Chat land on the deck next to her, though she couldn’t see him as she was too busy clutching her side and groaning in pain.

Once the air filled her lungs again, she glanced up to see if the guard was still following. She noticed two large boys thrust the ramp away, which caused the ship to lurch from the harbor. She didn’t want to think about the screams of the guards and the sickening cracks and splashes heard afterwards.

She coughed and sat up, panting heavily. Wiping the sweat off of her brow, she noticed that the sky was quickly filling with a light blue and clouds that floated above the shining blanket of sea. It was the first time she had found a sight above water to be beautiful.

She tugged at the cord of her necklace, pulling the shard out of her shirt.

“What the-” She muttered quietly, her eyes widening in shock.

Her half of the seashell was glowing with an excellence that she hadn't seen since it was whole.

_It’s near. The other half._

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I hope you enjoyed this! Much more to come soon.
> 
> Special thanks to my wonderful beta Sarah, @/geckoghostie on Tumblr. She came up with the title, which is p dope and means 'sea of black' in french. I really appreciate the help!
> 
> If you want to come talk w me about the AU, yell at me, or check out some art, my Tumblr is @/brakstr. All AU stuff will be tagged under 'mermaid au'.
> 
> Thanks for reading!!:)


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